Dynamics of the flares in the active polar region of Jupiter

[en] The dusk-side of the polar region of Jupiter's UV aurorae, called the active region, sometimes exhibits quasi-periodic (QP) flares on time-scales of 2-3 minutes. Based on Hubble Space Telescope Far-UV time-tag images, we show for the first time that the northern hemisphere also displays QP-flares. The area covered by these flares can reach up to 2.4 × 108 km2 (i.e. the whole active region), but often only involves an area an order of magnitude smaller. Using a magnetic field mapping model, we deduced that these areas correspond to the dayside outer magnetosphere. In our dataset, quasi-periodic features are only seen on half of the cases and even on a given observation, a region can be quiet for one half and blinking on the other half. Consecutive observations in the two hemispheres show that the brightening can occur in phase. Combined with the size and location of the flares, this behaviour suggests that the QP-flares most likely take place on closed magnetic field lines.

Research center :

STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège

Disciplines :

Space science, astronomy & astrophysics

Author, co-author :

Bonfond, Bertrand ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Grodent, Denis ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Badman, S. V.

Gérard, Jean-Claude ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO)

Radioti, Aikaterini ; Université de Liège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Language :

English

Title :

Dynamics of the flares in the active polar region of Jupiter

Publication date :

05 December 2016

Journal title :

Geophysical Research Letters

ISSN :

0094-8276

eISSN :

1944-8007

Publisher :

American Geophysical Union, Washington, United States - District of Columbia

Pages :

n/a-n/a

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071757

Funders :

BELSPO - SPP Politique scientifique - Service Public Fédéral de Programmation Politique scientifique

Commentary :

2016GL071757

Available on ORBi :

since 06 December 2016

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